Woman remanded for husband’s murder

A NICOSIA court yesterday ruled that a Sri Lankan woman, suspected of murdering her elderly husband, be kept in remand.

Vergin Rupika Pereira, 40, was arrested on January 31 after police discovered the half-burnt body of her spouse, 75-year-old Kypros Michael, in a bathtub at his home. She was charged with premeditated murder and arson and kept held in remand for eight days.

Sergeant Constantinos Constantinou yesterday had his request for an extra three-day remand approved by the court.

“Your Honour, we are investigating a very serious case and are in the final stages of the investigation. We have already taken 74 statements and we will be taking a further 15 statements… We are also still waiting for results from the toxicology department which we will be using as evidence.”

A local officer had been drawn to the house of the victim in Arediou after noticing smoke coming out of his roof. He had previously told the court how, on opening the door for him, Pereira reeked of petrol. After firemen put out the flames inside the house, they were faced with the gruesome discovery of Michael’s burnt body.

According to the police, the victim had on several occasions reported to the local police that he had been attacked by his wife and had recently filed for divorce.
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